


Traders and Sellers

by PenToEnd



Category: Original Work
Genre: Dystopia, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, MLMs, Mildly Dubious Legalities, Original work - Freeform, Sort Of, future stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26719729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenToEnd/pseuds/PenToEnd
Summary: In a future slightly to the left, MLM products are a currency of their own. A bit of trading is normal. But rather be a trader than a seller.





	Traders and Sellers

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t get sued for using real MLM names in a slight dystopian bit of speculative fiction, right?

The year is 2031 and the world is full of MLM products. It’s rarer to meet someone who is NOT in one, than one who is. But how do you sell your product if everyone has access to it? 

Simple. You don’t.

You trade it.

A pair of bright, eye-watering dresses for some shakes. The shakes for liquid lipsticks. Lipsticks for essential oils, and then, finally, the oils for some steaks. 

Sure, you could just  _ buy _ the steaks, like a normal person. But why? They’re expensive in today’s day and age. But Liza needs the oils for her locket hustle, Arianna needs the lipsticks for a party, George needs the shakes for his gym, and Kay needs the dresses to make pillow cases. 

There’s a difference between  _ trading _ and selling. Traders are the ones that actually move the products. Sellers are the ones bleeding money out and absorbing it like a sponge in equal amounts. 

Me? I’m a trader. Way easier than trying to sell. I’m not an idiot. I’ve got boxes of stuff. Dresses and lipsticks in every color, shakes of every flavor, bottles from every brand, and oils that have to stay in a mini-fridge or they stink up the whole apartment and give me a headache. 

It’s not easy, being a trader. But it’s a decent life. I’ve got loyal customers who come for things and sellers who drop off spare products. I haven’t paid for makeup since I was fifteen thanks to the MK rep who got me started in trading. 

Shoutout to you, Mrs. Ferris. 

See, a friend of mine at school had given me some rosehip essential oils to help with my acne. She got it from her mom who sold the oils for Young Living. 

During class, I noticed that Mrs. Ferris had awesome makeup - I’m still mad that they discontinued their Dermacol partnership. My foundation never looked better when that was happening - and asked her about it. 

“Mary Kay,” she said, looking pleased at the compliment. “I’m a seller for them. But I don’t think I can legally sell to you since you’re my student.”

“And I’m broke.”

“There’s that too.”

Then I got a brilliant idea. 

“Say, Mrs. Ferris, I’ve got a bunch of rosehip oil at home. It’s great for your skin. Helps reduce aging signs and acne. No offense meant, ma’am! Your skin looks fantastic.” Mrs. Ferris was pushing fifty-two, and I knew this because my older sister was in her class before graduating and they had had a small party in class to celebrate her fiftieth. “But Mia’s mom gave me waaay too much, even for my acne. What say you that we trade?” 

“You don’t even know what products I have available, Stephanie.”

“That’s ok. You’ve got a pamphlet of some kind, dontcha?”

“Don’t you,” she corrected me. “And yes, I do. At home.”

“Bring one tomorrow and I’ll pick out what I want and give you a small bottle of the oil to start. Sound fair?” 

And I haven’t paid for makeup since. These days, I trade to Mrs. Ferris for things other than rosehip oil. Sometimes she asks for clothes - and was mad for a week that I wouldn’t give her LulaRoe - and other times, it's manual labor type stuff. Things she can’t do herself anymore, like checking the attic crawlspace for raccoons or running to the grocery store when the roads are icy. That I usually do for free though. 

About the LulaRoe thing...

You might be thinking to yourself, “Steph, you ninny! Why didn’t you give the lady what she asked for? You don’t keep customers like that!” And you’d be right. But you also can’t forget that keeping customers is even more important. See, this was around the time LulaRoe was going under. Too many sellers, oversaturated market, etc. My cousin Liza, the one with the locket business, used to be a LLR rep, which is how I got my hands on the stuff in the first place. But she called me up while the package was in transit and told me not to give it to anyone. 

“Why not?” 

“I just got off the phone with Helen and Helen found a dead rat in hers. But that’s not all. Alisha found mold in hers because they weren’t stored properly. They were left outside because they ordered too much and the warehouse couldn’t fit them all.” 

“Oh jeez.”

When I got the package, I opened it up to send Liza pictures of the damage and wound up getting sick for a week. I haven’t touched a LLR product since. 

Now, some traders are as bad as the sellers. Touting bullshit about the product and how it works and all that. They deal with any old product so long as it gets them what they want in the end. But not me. No, I only deal in quality products. Stuff I can promise my customers is good stuff. Sure, every now and then I take in some Lipsense or doTERRA stuff, but only if I know someone who wants it. But if not, I don’t touch that shit with a ten foot pole. 

The key to trading is quality products and knowing people who need them. Sellers don’t need  _ quality _ so much as  **quantity** . Those of us who do the street level work are more honest, though. I’ve never lied to a customer yet and I’m not starting now. 

And before anyone goes asking, yeah, I’ve got a “real” job too. Well. Several. Uber-driver and food delivery, bartender, and housekeeper for some well-off housewives who can’t be bothered to run the vacuum more than once a week.

Sounds like a lot, huh?

Well, a girl’s gotta pay the rent! And bills. And food. And things like presents for birthdays and holidays and maybe a little selfcare every now and then. Oh, and Bonzai! My cute little American Staffordshire terrier. He’s black and brown and he’s my little buddy. He needs food and vet visits and vaccinations, all of which cost money. He gets plenty of exercise when I go do my neighborhood deliveries. 

Everyday, I pack up my backpack with various items and head around my apartment complex to drop them off. There’s at least one a day, and I take Bonzai with me. Some days, it's so busy, it’s all I do! Multiple trips around the square to all the different buildings. Poor Bonzai was tired by the third building from all the stairs.

I can’t blame him. I was so tired that night that I actually splurged on ordering in. 

But I digress. 

Moral of the story? Eh. There really isn’t one. But uh, I guess “Treat your neighbors right” could be it? I dunno, kid. I got deliveries to make. 


End file.
